Income Uncertainty and Continuance Intention Among Nano Niche Beauty Creators: The Mediating Role of Motivation

Abstract

The gig economy has turned content creation into a livelihood many people now rely on, though one with uncertain and often inconsistent income, especially for smaller creators whose earnings depend heavily on platform algorithms. This study examines how income uncertainty affects continuance intention among nano niche beauty creators on TikTok Indonesia, with motivation as a mediating variable. Data were collected from 107 purposively sampled respondents and analyzed using IBM SPSS Statistics 23 and Hayes' PROCESS Macro (Model 4). Income uncertainty showed no significant relationship with either motivation ( beta = 0.011 , p = 0.942 ) or continuance intention ( beta = 0.198 p = 0.091 ). Motivation, however, was significantly related to continuance intention ( beta = 0.236 , p = 0.003 ) . The indirect effect of income uncertainty on continuance intention through motivation was not statistically supported (Bootstrap CI: -0.069 to 0.064). These findings suggest that motivation is positively associated with continuance intention, whereas income uncertainty is not significantly associated with either motivation or continuance intention in this sample. Platform strategies aimed at retaining these creators may therefore benefit from prioritizing community and creative autonomy over monetary incentives.